Třinec wins first ever championship

Established in 1929, the Třinec hockey club had to wait over eight decades before winning its first national championship. And New York Rangers fans thought they had a long wait.

Třinec captain Radek Bonk hoists the championship trophy.
All photos: Marian Ježowicz, hcocelari.cz.

Located in Silesia, in an economically-depressed "rustbelt" region in the northeast corner of the Czech Republic, Třinec with its population of 38,000 is a small market even by Czech Extraliga standards. The club is nicknamed Oceláři (Steelworkers in English) as an homage to the region's industrial past, much the same way that Pittsburgh's NFL team is. This team means everything to its blue-collar fanbase, and they've waited a long time for their team to have a season like this.

It wouldn't be fair to say that Třinec has never had a good team before, but the team toiled in lower leagues for most of its history before ascending to the Extraliga in 1995. From there, they quickly climbed to become one of the best teams in the country. They reached the final in 1998, only to be swept by the Vsetín dynasty. Jan Peterek was part of that 1998 team and, after playing in Russia for a few years, he was on the team this season as well.

What a season it was.

They finished with the best record in the league, outscoring all other teams in the process. For most of the year, they battled their nearest rivals, Vítkovice Steel, for first. In the end, they edged out Liberec for top spot. Martin Růžička, Radek Bonk, Václav Varaďa, Ladislav Kohn and David Květon led the scoring. A solid defence was anchored by veterans Lukáš Krajiček and Lukáš Zíb. In goal, Peter Hamerlík led the league with 6 shutouts.

In the playoffs, they faced some challenges from Litvínov and Slavia Praha. Particularly Slavia, who led the semifinal series 3-1 and had many Třinec fans thinking that their dream season was just that: too good to be true. But they rebounded to win three in a row and then three more to start the finals against hated Vítkovice. They weren't able to close out the series on the road on Saturday, surrendering a late tying goal and losing in a shootout. That just gave them a chance to come home and win it all in front of their fans. They were 9-1 on home ice during the 2011 playoffs, capping it off with a dominating 5-1 victory.

The game itself was close for one period, Třinec escaping with a 2-1 lead. But in the second they put their stamp on the game. Josef Hrabal through a screen and then Erik Hrňa, with his first of the playoffs, on a beautiful one-time shot on a two-on-one made it 4-1, and left the fans to celebrate the final period away.

"The worst moment in the playoffs was the fourth game of the Slavia series," Bonk said afterward. "Few people believed in us then, but there was a huge commitment in our dressing room and we believed that we could turn it around. I'm really happy to be the first Třinec captain to lift the Cup over his head as champions."

And what about the playoff performance of Martin Růžička?

Růžička opened the scoring in the second minute of game 5. It was his 17th goal and 33rd point in his 18th game. Of all of those points, none were bigger than the 7 he recorded in the fifth and sixth games against Slavia in the semifinals to bring his team from a 1-3 deficit to even and into a seventh game at home, where they weren't going to be beaten. Not by this hungry team in front of these hungry fans.

To call this the greatest thing that's ever happened in Třinec may be an overstatement, but at this time you might have a hard time convincing the 5,200 in attendance at Werk Arena, the thousands more watching in the pubs throughout the region, or even the many more Oceláři fans who have moved elsewhere in the country in search of employment that it's not the truth.

The players appreciated the support, too. Varaďa summed it up: "The fans helped us so much and deserve a large share of the reward. What more can you ask?" 

Vítkovice goes home in 0-2 hole, disappointed but confident

After a sloppy performance in game 1, Vítkovice Steel was looking to get back to playing their type of hockey in game 2. For 58 minutes, they played exactly the type of game that they wanted.

Třinec's Václav Varaďa breaks the 0-0 tie with 1:01 to play.
Photo: Marian Ježowicz, hcocelari.cz.

For 58 minutes, they kept all of Třinec's big guns in check, and did so by playing typically strong-yet-disciplined Vítkovice hockey. Martin Růžička, an offensive stalwart who has averaged 2 points per game over this year's playoff run, was handcuffed and barely noticed. Even when they did take a penalty, they were strong on the kill, rendering the normally lethal Třinec power-play largely ineffective.

If Vítkovice had managed to score a goal in those 58 minutes, they might have got the result they wanted. But Třinec's defence was equally stingy, as they seemed content to play this style and bide their time until they got their chance. With overtime looming, they got it.

When Pavel Trka was sent off for hooking with 1:45 to play, the Třinec power-play went to work. And work is a good description of how they scored, as it was more the result of brawn than skill.

Just over a minute before the end of regulation time, Vítkovice goaltender Roman Málek tried to cover a loose puck in a mad scramble in front of the goal. A mass of bodies and the puck ended up in the net, as Václav Varaďa managed to force it over the line. "I knocked the puck, stopped it, I kept it in front of me, but that's about all I know," said Málek, trying to describe what happened. "The player who scored the goal fell on me and about half of my body was already over the goal line."

An empty-net goal by Martin Adamský made the final score 2-0. After being kept in check most of the game, Růžička managed to fill his 2-point quota by assisting on both goals. That extends his playoff record to 30 points in 15 games.  

In the Třinec goal, Peter Hamerlík stopped all 25 shots he faced. He added to his league-leading 6 shutouts during the regular season by recording his second of the playoffs. Málek stopped the first 24 he faced.

"We played a great game, it hurts a lot," the defeated goaltender continued after the game. "For sixty minutes we worked like horses and didn't get anything. We have to get it done at home. The third game especially will be tremendously important."

For all the disappointment, the veteran players on the team still aren't panicking. "I think we played a lot better than the first game. Although we spent some time on the penalty kill, which cost us a lot of energy, the performance was definitely not bad," commented veteran defenceman Marek Malík. "We just have try to win the two games at home, like Třinec did."